UK car industry on a upbeat, expectations follow

The UK car industry raised its annual sales forecast after more than a year of  half straight raise of sales, as the country’s largest dealer reported first-half profit up by almost a quarter. A sustained climb in car demand has helped the UK industry to overcome the European slowdown in sales amid a wider revival in the British economy as it emerges from years of stagnation.

Pendragon, the UK’s biggest car retailer, wasnt an exception and recorded a 20% rise in new retail sales in the first six months of the year, driven by rising consumer confidence, fierce price competition and subsidized or deferred finance offers.

“There’s no question that there’s a positive dynamic among customers,” said Pendragon chief executive Trevor Finn. “There’s a lot of momentum in the market . . . The trajectory is positive.”

Pendragon, while operating more than 250 outlets and accounting for more than 65% of new retail sales in the UK, expects revenue growth of 5% this year on a rise in sales in excess of the SMMT’s (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) forecast.

New car sales in the UK are expected to raise to 2.2 million in 2013, up 8% on last year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said today beating estimates of the industry lobby group’s which predicted 110,000 units sales.

New car registrations rose 12.7% in July to 162,228 vehicles, according to SMMT data. Sales so far in 2013 are 10.3% higher than during the same period last year. and the growing market comes as homegrown manufacturers such as Bentley and Jaguar Land Rover increase their investment in UK plants.

In the first half of the year, car sales were down 4.7% in Germany, 8.4% in France and 5.5% in Italy, as the overall EU market lags behind 2012 sales by 6.6%.

“We continue to see robust sales keeping the UK car market head and shoulders above our European counterparts,” said for Financial Times Richard Lowe, head of retail and wholesale at Barclays. “We’re unlikely to see the status quo changing any time soon.” he added.

Earlier today UK manufacturing production rose dramatically by 1.9% while expectations were consolidated around 1%. The indicator declined by 0.8% for the previous period which was the month of May.